Hitchhiker
by ShizukuChan
Summary: Lindsay and Danny meet before she comes to New York. Danny picks up Lindsay at a lonely road, they get into a hostage situation. DL, of course
1. Need a Ride?

**This is a story that has pretty much nothing to do with what's going on in the tv show, it's more one of the many scenarios of what could happen if Danny and Lindsay meet under different circumstances... this first chapter was inspired by the song "Hitchhiker" by Teitur (check out his latest album, it's great!).  
I still don't have a beta reader, so if anyone feels like helping me out there, please contact me :)  
As this is my very first fanfic on here, I'd really appreciate any constructive feedback - as they say: R&R, please, thank you!**

**Okay, enough of me, let the story begin...**

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„No, not again!" Lindsay Monroe couldn't believe it. On the way home from the mechanics next town her car litterally broke into pieces. Again. Not even the radio was working anymore. And as if that wasn't enough she discovered that her cell phone had run out of battery, just as she wanted to call for help. Now she was stuck on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere, it was getting dark and cold. She stepped out of the car to take a look under the hood.

"What am I doing here? I don't know anything about cars, that's why I brought it to the mechanics in the first place." She rolled her eyes and shut the hood again.

She leaned against her vehicle looking out on the road, waiting for a car to come by. It was Friday night, and she knew exactly that this road wasn't frequented very often, she used it almost every week, but rarely ever saw another car.

Lindsay decided, instead of waiting for someone to come her way, it would be faster if she just went along the road to the next gas station and find a good old coin telephone there. It was quite a distance, but since she liked long walks, especially at this time of the year, she figured it wouldn't be that bad.

After about one hour she heard a noise approaching her. It was a car! She turned around and stepped out on the road, signalizing the car to stop for her. Unfortunately the driver didn't seem to understand her. He sped up and drove around her, directly through a huge puddle, leaving Lindsay standing there with wet mud stains on her shirt and jacket. "Thanks a lot, exactly what I needed to make this day perfect!" she grumbled. She was just about to get off the street when she heard a second car. She waved out again, not as enthusiastic as the first time though, but this time the driver stopped a few feet away from her.

"What can I do for you, Miss?" the rather handsome looking man behind the steering wheel asked in a pretty thick New York accent. Lindsay blushed, she was immediately attracted to him.

"My car broke down and I was on the way to find a working phone and call for help. May I use your cell phone for a second, please?"

"I'm sorry, but I broke up with my grilfriend yesterday and she smashed my cell, I didn't get around to get a new one yet. But I could take you somewhere – where are you headed?"

Is he trying to tell me he's single? I should let him know I'm actually not available anymore, Lindsay thought. 

"Um, just to the next gas station. I'll call my husband and he'll pick me up."

"Alright, hop in." _Dammit, she's married!_

"What's your name?" Lindsay asked in the car.

_Better don't tell her your real name, who knows what kind of twisted mind she really has,_ "I'm …Chris. And your name?" The stranger, whose actual name was Danny Messer, detective of the NYPD, introduced himself.

_Who knows what kind of weirdo this might be, that's probably not even his real name - and I better don't tell him mine_, "I'm Becky, nice to meet you, Chris." Her beautiful smile made him melt.

"Nice to meet you, too, Becky." He smiled back, she felt her heart beating faster for a second.

A few minutes later they arrived at the gas station, but the shop doors were already closed.

"Great! And the only working phone is inside, of course. This has to be my lucky day!"

"Ah, I don't think it's that bad. Look, the lights are still on, if we ask friendly they might let you in and call your husband." Danny suggested.

"You're right, I'll just ask." They got out of the car and walked towards the store. Lindsay tried to see if somebody was inside before she knocked, and it was exactly the right thing to do: She saw two men with skiing masks running around in the store collecting various items, and a very frightened looking older man holding his hands up.

She looked over to Danny.

"Is that a gun?!" she whispered startled. He had already placed himself at the side of the door, pressing himself against the wall, holding his gun up and thinking about what to do.

"I have to tell you something… I'm not just some lonesome rider, I'm with the NYPD, and we're witnessing a crime in progress, I have to do something about it." He showed her his badge on his belt. Lindsay's eyes lit up.

"Well, you're not alone, cowboy, 'cause I'm with the local police," she showed him her badge, "and of course we have to intervene!"

TBC


	2. Not That Easy

**Author's note: Okay, after the first chapter totally fit the title, there won't be mutch hitchhing anymore, and not much DL in this chapter either, sorry... there'll be more in the next chapters, I promise.  
Thanks for the comments so far, keep reviewing ;) **

**... and I'm still looking for a beta reader...**

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"So, what's your plan?" Lindsay whispered over to Danny. She also had a gun with her.

"I'm thinking we wait here for them to come out, when they walk past us we just stop them from behind and cuff them up. Since we can't call any backup teams yet it's just you and me, Becky. Please be careful", he whispered back.

"I'm always careful! Just because I am a woman and I work out here in the small towns doesn't mean I never had to handle a situation like this. Do you seriously…"

"Hush, they're coming!"

Danny and Lindsay hid to the right and the left of the front doors of the store, making as little sound as they could. Both were concentrating on the doors, waiting for them to be opened. What they didn't take into consideration though was the possibility of a third member of that criminal group. They had completely ignored the car at the parking lot next to the gas station, the car which was now empty.

"Don't move!"

Lindsay felt the cold steel of a gun on her temple, she immediately froze. Danny looked over and saw that a tall, dark man was holding Lindsay and pointing a gun to her head.

"Put your guns down!" The man yelled at them. They slowly did as they were told, and right after they had disarmed themselves the two accomplices of their hostage-taker came out of the store.

"Get back in, before that clerk calls the police!"

Too late! Lindsay and Danny were relieved when they saw the clerk inside on the phone.

The three criminals dragged Lindsay and Danny into the store.

"Tom, get back out and take their guns, we might gonna need them!" The third, unmasked guy seemed to be the mind of this whole operation, he gave all the orders. One of the robbers ran outside and picked the guns up while the other one was pointing his at the clerk again.

"I, I … I just called the police", the clerk stuttered nervously, "they're gonna be here any minute, you should just… just give up…" He almost cried, and couldn't take his eyes off the gun pointed at his face.

"Gus, can we take off these masks now? This thing is suffocating me! The police is getting us anyways, they have our car outside, they'll just run the license plate and…"

"Alright, alright, Terry. Take them off, I'm not wearing mine anyway." Gus, the head of this company, was still holding Lindsay, but pointing his gun at Danny now, while Tom was outside getting the additional guns.

Terry was the first one to take his mask off. Lindsay was surprised about how young he looked, she figured he was about 14 years old. The other one, Tom, didn't look much older, probably 16 years old. Gus was of course the oldest one, that also explained why the two boys were obeying him. She estimated him to be around 25, maybe even a bit younger. She wondered what made these kids throw away their lives like this. Her curiousity forced her to ask, but then her good sense stepped in and she decided not to throw her life away like this, out of curiousity. Afterall, she was still in the hands of Gus, the guy with the gun and command over two other gun-holders. All three of them didn't seem too pleased about the fact that the police was on its way.

"This is bad. This is really, really bad." Tom walked around in the shop nervously, holding Lindsay's and Danny's guns in both hands and talking to himself. The bags with the stuff the kids wanted to steal had been placed next to the garbage can, they didn't seem important anymore. Danny caught a glimpse of what was in the bags: a few candy bars, bottles (alcohol?), magazines, and some other, not very robbery-worthy looking stuff from this tiny store.

"Sit down over there." Gus was talking to Danny. With his gun he pointed to the front side of the counter. He also pushed Lindsay to that place and forced her to sit next to Danny, while Terry brought the clerk around the counter to accompany them.

Danny couldn't help but ask, "You ran into all this trouble just for a few bucks and some beer?"

Gus got really angry now, "Shut up! You have no idea! And no-one's talking to you anyway, you don't speak unless you're asked! … I need to think…"

From outside they heard the police coming, blue lights were blinking throught the store windows. This obviously wasn't part of their plan.

TBC


	3. Friend Or Foe?

**Sorry it took so long for this update, but sometimes real life can get you distracted from this magic box we call computer... and actually the next update will take even longer, probably until around Christmas (I'll try to be faster though...)  
Thanks a lot to Krista for the beta!  
Also thanks to everyone for the nice comments so far, keep 'em coming :)**

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"Who exactly are you two?" Gus wondered what Danny and Lindsay had been doing outside, running around with guns. "You don't look like cops… did Charlie send you?"

"Charlie?" Danny and Lindsay shortly exchanged a look. They realized it would be safer to play along than to admit that they were indeed police officers. Danny talked first.

"You're right! He sent us to…. uhm…" He had no idea why Charlie would send them… if only he knew who Charlie was!

"To make sure you get everything!" Lindsay finished his sentence.

Gus was suspicious, "That doesn't sound like Charlie…"

"Well, you know him, always up for a surprise."

"Yeh, THAT sounds like him", Gus' sceptical face turned into a creepy but honest smile. He seemed to consider Danny and Lindsay his friends now, or at least he thought they were on his side.

The store telephone rang. The police had finally set everything up outside and was now trying to communicate with them inside. Gus wanted to take the call, he ordered Terry to watch the clerk, in case he tried to escape. Tom was still pacing nervously in the back of the store. While Gus was talking Danny and Lindsay made sure their badges were covered well enough to not give away their real identities.

"Who is this Charlie? You know him?" Danny whispered.

"Everyone in town knows him", Lindsay replied, also whispering. "He's pretty much the boss of every criminal we have here. His real name is Jonathan Miller, but everyone calls him Charlie, because he looks a bit like Charlie Brown… and he has a dog named Snoopy."

"And now this Gus guy thinks we're here to help? Okay… " Danny wasn't quite sure what to think of this, even as the experienced New York cop he was, he'd never been in a situation like this.

"Don't worry, I've got this under control. Just let me do the talking." Lindsay said.

"Yes, mom." Danny couldn't resist, he just had to tease her on that last sentence.

"Cute." Lindsay rolled her eyes. "What were you doing down here anyway? Shouldn't you be in New York?"

"I was working on a case. The guy murdered someone in New York, and then went here and did it again, I followed his traces. When we met I was getting back to my hotel after processing the crime scene." The last few words were spoken almost without any sound, in fear of one of the real criminals overhearing them.

Gus was still on the phone, negotiating with the police. Suddenly he put down the receiver and walked straight over to Lindsay.

"I told them I had three hostages, two men and a woman. Now they want to see you, the woman, so that they know I'm not lying. Could you come outside with me for a second and play the scared little housewive? That would really help fulfilling Charlie's orders."

"Well, you know…." Lindsay was thinking of a way to get out of this, but Gus didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed her hand and held her before his chest, again placing his gun on her temple. Lindsay gave Danny a frightened look, mouthing "help me" to him. Danny didn't understand. He mouthed back, "why?", but it was too late for Lindsay to say anything. Gus went towards the doors, then opened them a bit, just enough to hold Linday's head out so the police could see her.

And that's what they did. They saw her. They recognized her. One of their own was trapped in that store. That's what Lindsay had been so scared of: If only one of them …

"It's Lindsay!" a young officer shouted.

Oh no, it had happened. The guy had blown her cover, and since Gus wasn't stupid he would know what valuable goods he held in his hands. _This has to be my personal Murphy's Law Day!_ , Lindsay thought.

"That's enough!" Gus pulled her back into the store and closed the door again. He threw her back to her place next to Danny and told Terry to watch them both, too. Then he got back on the phone, the detective was still waiting for Gus' demands.

"Lindsay, huh?" Danny whispered, he had totally forgotten about the fake names.

"Yes, Lindsay Monroe. But don't think I don't know you told me a fake name, too!"

"You caught me. I'm Danny Messer, nice to meet you, Miss Monroe!" He wanted to shake her hand, but she moved away a bit.

"How can you be like that? Don't you realize we're in serious danger here?"

"I know, I just want to make the best out of it."

"Oh yeah? Then maybe you should try and think of a plan that gets us out of here…"

Gus stepped in, "Shut up you two!" He was done negotiating. "So, you're really a cop… interesting. That sets me in a whole new position. I assume your boyfriend here is a cop as well?"

"He's not my…!" Lindsay objected.

"I don't care what he is to you, but I want to have your badges, so your friends outside know that I have two of them. Put them on the floor." They did as they were told, Danny clipping his off his belt, and Lindsay taking hers out of her pocket.

"Good. Now I need some more time for a new plan…"

TBC


	4. Nothing To Lose

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I'll try to be faster with the next chapter... as always, enjoy reading and review if you feel like it ;)

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The hours were passing slowly. Danny and Lindsay had been sitting on the floor all night, whispering words of comfort to each other every now and then when they weren't watched that closely. The clerk had already fallen asleep on the floor next to them, his day had been long enough.

All the time it had been Terry who watched them, while Gus had been sitting next to the telephone, waiting for the police to call and tell him they got everything he had demanded. It was two o'clock in the morning now though, and Terry was getting tired.

"Tom… Tom, wake up!" Terry carefully kicked Tom, who was lying on the floor asleep.

"What?" Tom asked, still sleep-drunken. He had to orientate first, he seemed to have no idea where he was. He looked at the guns lying near beside him, then raised his head and saw the hostages that were kept covered by Terry. He also saw that Terry couldn't carry on for much longer anymore and realized that it was his turn to watch over the two cops and the clerk. Slowly he stood up and took Lindsay's and Danny's guns – he would have felt uncomfortable with these firearms lying around there unwatched.

"Alright, I'll take over."

"Good. I really need some rest." Terry laid down where Tom had been lying before, whilst Tom took over Terry's place, pointing his two guns at his hostages. Once he was standing and seeing clearly again, his nervous twitches came back. Lindsay grabbed Danny's hand, staring at the boy's shaking hands. Danny looked at her, and then followed her look up to Tom.

"Hey boy, you okay?" he cautiously asked.

"What do you care?" Tom obviously didn't want to talk about his problems.

"I just thought… I mean, you don't look too good, maybe you wanna talk…"

"Oh, shut up, stupid copper!" Gus intervened, he didn't want Danny to talk himself into Tom's mind. "The boy's fine, just leave him alone and let him do his job." Gus turned around, back to staring at the phone.

"Yeh, I couldn't be better!" Tom stepped from one foot to the other. "See, no-one can harm me as long as I got these," he wildly waved his two guns.

"Tom, it's alright, just ignore them." Now even Gus could see how nervous and uncomfortable the boy was, and that he was about to snap any minute.

"No, it's not alright, Gus! I won't take your crap anymore, my life's over anyway. The cops outside won't just let us walk out there like nothing happened if we let them free," with Danny's gun in his right hand he pointed at Danny and Lindsay.

"Better be careful with that." Danny spoke in a calming voice, he was aware of the fact that Tom was about to pull the trigger, one wrong word and it would be over for them. As he saw that the gun was pointed more towards Lindsay, he slowly got up and moved in front of her, still trying to calm down Tom.

Lindsay squeezed Danny's hand, she didn't want him to risk his life for her. She'd rather be risking hers for him, but she was to afraid to actually do anything. Did she really just think about risking her life for this guy she met not even half a day ago? She started sweating, Lindsay had this sixth sense in cases like this one, it told her that something was going to happen and turn this around, make it stop… it only didn't tell her whether it would end good for any of the parties involved, and right now it didn't appear to go well for anybody in this room. Danny squeezed back, as if to say she shouldn't worry, he had this under control.

The voices got louder, Gus tried to persuade Tom to give him the weapons, whilst Danny wanted Gus to stop and let the boy think clearly for a moment. Tom was only standing there, confused, angry, and ready to shoot.

Even though the argument hadn't woken up the clerk or Terry, this next noise did: Closing his eyes and crying out loudly Tom fired the guns, both aimed in different directions. The shots were echoed through the forest behind the gas station, followed by a silence soon broken by Lindsay's screams:

"Danny! Danny!" He was hit, a bullet went through his left shoulder and let him fall down, his head hitting the counter, onto Lindsay who was holding him now, trying to stop the wound from bleeding. Danny had lost consciousness.

After he realized what he had done Tom immidately dropped the guns and stumbled outside. The police, also waken up by the shot, finally took action and stormed into the gas station. Terry and Gus were paralized, staring at Danny's motionless body and offered no resistance upon their arrest.


	5. Lost And Found

**A/N: You guys rock for all those great reviews, thank you so much!!! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, and please keep reviewing :)  
Oh, and special thanks to Pepite for the support, and to Kkristabell for the beta, the support and for keeping me from posting stupid stuff...**

**Happy New Year everyone!!!!**

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Everything seemed to take place in slow motion: the police taking away Gus and his fellowship, the EMTs rushing into the store, putting Danny on a stretcher and carrying him out. Had they even bothered to check his vital signs?

Lindsay could only sit there in shock, Danny's blood all over her, and watch it happen. Everything felt unreal, she felt aloof, unable to move and get back into the scene. All of a sudden a man appeared over her, waving a flash light into her eyes. His uniform identified him as a member of the ambulance team, his lips were moving, he kept opening and closing his mouth, but Lindsay couldn't hear any of the words he was probably saying. She understood that she was expected to answer something, give a sign that she was okay, not hurt, that none of the blood was hers. She managed to slightly move her head up, and then down again, so that it looked like a nod. The man helped her standing up and brought her to one of the ambulance vans waiting outside. Her colleagues came running to her, but Lindsay couldn't hear what they seemed to be screaming into her face, she saw the worry and relief in their smiles, but all she could think about now was Danny.

Was he still alive? Judging from the amount of blood her clothes had soaked up, he wasn't. Lindsay tried to open her mouth. Putting all the strength that was left in her into forming that simple yet most important question on her mind right now, she tried to ask one of the EMTs around her about Danny's condition. She eyed this man who had brought her into the van and was holding her hand as they drove towards the hospital. She really tried to speak, but all that came were tears and muttered fractions of words she didn't even understand herself.

At the hospital she was washed, her clothes were changed and finally she was laid into a bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she sank into a deep dreamless sleep. She woke up exhausted, it was evening again, frantically looking around and trying to remember what had brought her into this room full of strangers. Hearing the usual hospital sounds, she could locate the room, and with that the rest of her memories of the night before came flooded back into her mind, along with a name: Danny Messer.

Glad to have found her ability to hear and talk again, she asked a nurse in the room if she knew anything about a man being taken to this hospital with a gunshot wound last night. The nurse wasn't able to tell her anything about him as she had started her shift only an hour earlier, but Lindsay was determined to find out if Danny was here, if he was alive. She stepped out of the bed, her head still pounding after all the stress from the night before. Ignoring the flowers and get well cards next to her bed she slowly walked out to the hallway. There she stumbled into a doctor, finally someone who had been working since last night. He directed her to a room up the stairs and offered to take her there in a wheelchair since she didn't stand too firm and her steps looked quite shaky. In the elevator, she tried to get her thoughts in order, but one of them kept running around in her head messing everything else up: _He's alive_.

Still thinking about what to say to Danny, how to behave in a situation like this, she entered his room. It looked exactly like the room she woke up in only few minutes ago, with the little difference that here, everyone was sleeping. No, not sleeping, these patients were all in a coma, not expected to wake up any time soon.

The doctor brought Lindsay over to Danny's bed and then left. She carefully took his hand and studied his face. The expression on it was a peaceful yet painful one. He looked tense, but with a hint of happiness. His eye-lids kept moving, he seemed to be caught in a dream, maybe even a nightmare, unable to escape. Lindsay started to think about all the events she had gone through, they had gone through the night before. After picking her up as a stranger at the side of a road, he had risked his life for her. He had taken the bullet that most likely would have hit her. Tears kept crawling up her eyes, the emotions she had not been able to set free last night or in her sleep were now seeking their way out of her body.

He had saved her life. Even now, only holding his hand, she felt a strong bond connecting them. She wanted him to stay with her, stay her lifesaver forever. She remembered the short time in peace they had spent together in his car, the warm feeling that had sorrounded them, the attraction she had felt for him the moment he had stopped for her. And she remembered how all those sentiments had grown stronger with every minute she had spent with him.

Once again, her head was spinning, full of thoughts about Danny and her feelings for him. Over all this she became weak and tired again, and fell asleep holding his hand, resting her head on the side of his bed.

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A/N: Just so you don't get the wrong impression: No, I didn't forget that Lindsay is married in this story. In fact, you're gonna meet her husband in the next chapter ;)**


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